Machine for bending and straightening metal.



v. PATENTED MAR.'13, 1906. K. 0. GARDNER. MACHINE FOR BENDING AND STRAIGHTBNING METAL.

APPLIGAITION FILED NOV. 27, 1905,

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1,

(III/ WITNESSES No. 815,282. PATENTED MAR. 13, 1906.

' K. 0. GARDNER.

MACHINE FOR BENDING AND STRAIGHTENING METAL.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 27, 1905.

'2 SHEETSSHBET 2.

n N no N m -q WITNESSES INVENTOR I TINITEE ATES cation KIRTLAND o. GARDNER, or PITTSBIlRG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR To UNITED ENGINEERING & FOUNDRY COMPANY, OF PITTSBURG, PENN= SYLVANIA, A CORPORATION- OF PENNSYLVANIA.

MAoHiNE FOR BENDING 'ANb STRAIGHTENING METAL.

Patented March 13,

Application filed November 27; 1905. Serial Nb. 2 9.1541

' To all whom it ma'jjooherh:

Be it known that I, KIRTLAND C. GARD- NEE, of Pittsburg, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Machines for Bending or Straightening Metal, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had. to the accompanying drawings, formingpart of this specification, in whic I Figure 1 is a plan view of a machine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same. Fig. 3 is a front end view, and Fig. 4 a partial longitudinal vertical section taken on the line IV IV of Fig. 1 through the reciprocating-bending-head.

My invention relates to the class of metal bending machines, and more particularly to a press for straightening or bending metal beams, bars, rails, &c., my object being to provide convenient means for effecting the adjustment of the relatively fixed and movable dies or anvils, in connection with the means for actuating and adjusting the mov able bending-head and it consists in the provision of motor actuated gearing whereby the dies or anvils may be moved laterally on the fixed and .movable heads into any desired position to suit the particular work being done.

My invention also consists in the novel construction, arrangement, and combinationof parts, all substantially as hereinafter described, and pointed out in the appendedclaims. a

the machine, having at its forward end' an upWardly-extendin portion or abutment 3, vilhich constitutes t e fixed head of the ma 0 me.

In the drawings, 2 designates the frame of 4 4 are the relatively fixed anvils or dies,

which are mounted to slide laterally in the guides 2 of the fixed head and which are carried on a transverse screw-shaft 5, having its end portions of opposite thread meeting at the center, as shown in Fig. 1 i

6 is the movablereciprocating head mounted on theframe 2 in the guides 2 and having rearward or tail extensions 7 at the opposite sides. I

8 8 are the dies or anvils of the movable head, arranged to move laterally in the guides 6 and actuated by a transverse screw- ,shaft 9, which passes through them. I This "shaft has oppositely-threaded portions simi= lar to those of the shaft 5.

To actuate the shafts 5 and 9, I preferably provide the electric motors 10 and 11, re=

spectively, the former mounted on theframe 2 and the latter on a bracket 6 ofthe movable head 6. 7 On the shaft of the motor 10 is a friction-disk 12, which frictionally engages the periphery of a wheel 13, carried. by a transverse shaft 14, which is connected by a .chain-drive 15 with the screw shaft 5. The wheel 13 has a sliding rotative engagement with the shaft 14 and is moved relatively to the disk 12 by means of a shifting lever 15,

engaging the hub or sleeve portion of said iwheel. The lever 15 is connected by a link 16 to an arm 17 of a rocker s'haft 18, to which I is connected a hand -'lever 19. When the 1 wheel-'13 is in central relation to the frictiondisk 12, the shaft 14 will not be rotated, but .when said wheel 13 is moved out toward the periphery of said diskshaft 14, and thereby I the screw-shaft 5, is actuated, the direction of rotation of these shafts de'ending upon whether the wheel 13 is move to one side or the other of the center of the friction-disk.

The motor 11 actuate's the screw shaft 9 in a similar manner to that just describedthrougli the friction-disk 2 on the shaft of the motor 11 the movable frictionfwheel 21,,the' shaft 22, carrying such Wheel and journaled on] the head 6, and the'chain-drive 23, connecting'the shaft 22 and 9. The friction-wheel 21 is moved on the shaft 22 by the shifting-lever 24 and hand-lever 25. and 25 areadjacent' to each other, so that they can be grasped at the same time by the operator,who can, by the actuation thereof, quickly adjust the anvils or dies to the de-' siredposition, either separately or simulta neous'ly'. I V V V I The movable head 6 is actuated and adjust ed in any usual or suitable manner. Inthe construction and arrangement shown the tail extensions 7' above referred to are each connected to a sliding block 26, actuated by a pitman 27, connected to a crank 29 of the main actuating-shaft 30. Shaft 30 is driven by a motor 3 1 through the intermediate gears 32, 33, 34, and 35. The gears 33 and 34 are on an intermediate shaft 36, which preferably carries a balance-wheel 36 The con- The hand-levers 19 nection between each tail extension 7 and the corresponding block 26 is made by a screw 37, seated in pockets or recesses 38, with a head 39, having a fixed bearing at in the block 26 and engaging by its threaded por tion a nut 41 in the tail extension 7. Each of these screws is actuated by a worm-gear connection 42 with a transverse shaft 43, having an actuating hand-wheel 44. To secure closer adjustment of the movable head, I provide the eccentrics 45. To receive these eccentrics, the blocks 26 are each formed in two sections, between which are the eccentrics keyed to vertical shafts 46.

47 represents shoes upon the concave faces of which the eccentrics bear and which are engaged with the respective sections of the blocks 26 at 47 48 represents caps which are secured to the shoes 47. and have lips 49, which loosely engage grooves at the ends of the eccentric, thereby connecting the two portions of the blocks 26 across the eccentric.

Thetwo eccentrics are simultaneously actuated by the hand-lever 50 through the link 51, bell-crank lever 52, and link 53, the bellcrank lever 52 being secured to the shaft of one of the eccentrics, and the link 53 connecting an arm of said lever with a lever-arm 54 on the shaft of the other eccentric.

In view of the fact that the means for adjusting the head 6 forms no part of my invention further detailed description thereof will be unnecessary.

The advantages of my invention result from the simple construction and arrangement of parts whereby the lateral adjustment of either one or both sets of bendingdies may be quickly and conveniently effected. Thus in straightening a short kink or bend the dies or anvils 8 may be left in the position shown in Fig. 1, while the dies 4 4 are brought closer together. This capability of independent adjustment enables the dies or anvils to be placed for each particular piece of work in the most advantageous bending position. I,

What I claim is 1. In a bending or straightening press, a head, a pair of dies or anvils slidably mounted in guides of the head, a screw-shaft having oppositely-threaded portions engaging the anvils or dies, a motor for operating the screw-shaft, and means for reversing the direction of motion of the screw-shaft without reversing the motor substantially as described.

2. In a bending and strai htening press, a pair of laterally-adjustable dies or anvils, an opp ositely-threaded screw-shaft engaging the same, a motor for operating said shaft, and gearing intermediate the motor and shaft, whereby the motion of the latter may be stopped Without stopping the motor; substantially as described.

3. In a bending and strai htening press, a

1 pair of laterally-adjustable dies or anvils, an

oppositely-threaded screw-shaft engaging the same, a motor for actuating said shaft, and gearing intermediate the motor and shaft ar ranged to permit the shaft to be stopped or reversed without stopping or reversing the motor; substantially as described.

4. In a bending or straightening press, a head, a pair of dies or anvils slidably mounted thereon, an oppositely-threaded screwshaft engaging the dies or anvils, a motor having a friction-disk, and gearing intermediate the disk and screw-shaft, such gearing including a friction-Wheel and means for shifting said wheel relatively to the frictiondisk substantially as described.

5. In a bending or straightening ress, a stationary head, an opposing movabib head, dies or anvils in each head mounted for transverse movement, motors for actuating the dies or anvils of the movable and stationary heads, gearing intermediate the motors and. the anvils or dies, and lever mechanism for controlling the operation of each of the motors and its gearing from adjacent points; substantially as described.

6. In a bending or straightening press, the combination with fixed and movable bending-heads having laterally-adjustable dies or anvils, and means for adjusting the movable head relatively to the fixed head, such means comprising two separate adjusting mechanisms, one for larger adjustments, and the other for close adjustments; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

KIRTLAND C. GARDNER.

Witnesses:

GEO. B. BLEMING, GEO. H. PARMELEE. 

